Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome in Persian Medicine view

Bladder pain syndrome or interstitial cystitis is a disagreeable feeling of pain, pressure and discomfort in the urinary bladder, along with lower urinary tract symptoms that may last more than six weeks with no infection or any other identifiable cause. Its etiology is still unknown. A significant percentage of women with chronic pelvic pain suffer from interstitial cystitis. However, there are some ambiguities in its diagnostic and therapeutic process. In this article, we survey the viewpoints of Persian Medicine scholars about bladder disorders that can fit with interstitial cystitis. Thus, we designed a qualitative content analysis study and investigated signs, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of interstitial cystitis in conventional medicine articles. Then, diseases of the bladder and the bladder gas was surveyed in the Canon of Medicine by Avicenna (980-1037 AD) and the other literatures of Persian Medicine, in particular. Pain, lower urinary tract symptoms, beneficial reaction to dietary modifications and warming bladder up also the lack of infection and other urinary disorders are observable matches between bladder pain syndrome in contemporary medicine and bladder gas in Persian Medicine. Upon Persian Medicine scholar's viewpoints entrapped gas can cause pain by stretching of bladder tissues. In this opinion, “gas” may be one of the causes of pain and dysfunction in organs. We found reports of gas in some tissues in contemporary medicine, too. If we accept that bladder gas can be one of the manifestations or causes of interstitial cystitis, bladder gas treatment methods that are used in Persian Medicine, can be simple, low-cost preventive and therapeutic methods for its management.